Penny Dreadful: Creator-Cancelled! Season Three Ends the Showtime Series

by Cindy McLennan, June 20, 2016

Penny Dreadful season three TV series finale photo: Patrick Redmond/SHOWTIME.

Spoilers ahoy! Penny Dreadful has been creator-cancelled after three seasons on Showtime. There will be no fourth season of Penny Dreadful coming next year. A major character died in last night’s two-episode season three finale, “Perpetual Night,” and “The Blessed Dark.” What is more, the second hour closed with an end card literally spelling out, “The End,” indicating the drama had drawn to a close. This was confusing, because the episode was only promoted as a “season finale.” That promotional decision was made for story-telling reasons.

Creator Mike Logan and Showtime’s David Nevins have confirmed the Penny Dreadful season three finale is also the TV series finale. That said, Logan does not rule out revisiting the story years from now, should Showtime so desire. The Penny Dreadful cast includes: Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Harry Treadaway, Reeve Carney, Billie Piper, and Patti LuPone. Below, watch the cast and crew discuss ending the series. Spoilers for the Penny Dreadful TV series finale after the jump.

In advance of the third season of Penny Dreadful, Showtime teased that Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) accepting her demons could exact a terrible cost and plunge the world into darkness. The premium cable channel also indicated Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), the Creature (Rory Kinnear), and Lily (Billie Piper) would each have to face their own monstrous selves.

Penny Dreadful‘s season three finale brought the death of Vanessa. She was shot dead by Ethan who had loved her for so long. When Logan realized the story was drawing to a close, he he told Nevins, who decided promoting the third season as the final season would be too much of a spoiler for the audience.

DEADLINE: So, Vanessa Ives is dead, but does that mean Penny Dreadful is truly over?

LOGAN: I can absolutely confirm it is really over, the end, that’s all she wrote. The whole idea to have this be the end of the series applies to all of the characters not just for Vanessa Ives and I felt the ending was for Malcolm and Ethan was Ethan got the father that he wanted and Sir Malcolm got the family he needed and together they came to a nice thing of stasis.

Some poems are meant to be haikus and some are meant to be sonnets and some are meant to be enormous epics, and this was always meant to be a sonnet. It was something of grace and beauty. I think we’ve been able to achieve that in a really masterful way with the artists that I work with, everyone’s work. I think this is the right ending so for me to revisit that world again would seem inorganic, I think.

NEVINS: At the same time, this is a show that’s going to live on and it’s going to live on streaming platforms. It’s going to be on Showtime. You can watch it whenever you want and I think it will continue to be re-watched and also discovered for the first time over the course of the next 10 years.

DEADLINE: John, with the work you are now doing on adapting Patti Smith’s Just Kids for Showtime, was part of ending Penny Dreadful now about refocusing your priorities in the channel’s pantheon? Could we see a revisited Penny Dreadful sometime down the line?

LOGAN: Well Showtime is my TV home. This is where I started and I think this is where I want to continue working. So, I’ll tell you if David Nevins comes to me in five years and says “hey remember Penny Dreadful? What are your thoughts?’ I would happily engage the conversation.

NEVINS: I’m always happy to speculate, there is no this is done. I’m always happy to speculate; I feel like it is a rich world that I think will live on for a very long time.

DEADLINE: So it’s over but you guys are willing to talk about it later?

NEVINS: Yeah. Who knows? I’m always willing to talk about anything.

DEADLINE: John, you told me back in 2014 that you had charted Penny Dreadful up to three seasons, but did you always plan on this being over after three seasons?

LOGAN: For me artistically, it was sort of middle of the second season, so about two years ago when I was planning out the third season I realized where it was heading, because at its core for me the show has always been a woman grappling with her faith and at the end of the second season Vanessa stepped away from Catholicism, from religion, and so the third season had to be for me about her clawing her way back to God.

DEADLINE: David, how did John break the news to you?

NEVINS: John laid it out for me as he was pitching Season 3. He came in, maybe a little bit less than a year ago, and he said I feel like this needs to be the end of Vanessa Ives, and if it’s the end of Vanessa Ives then it’s the end of Penny Dreadful. I went through a short period of sort of, “Are you sure you want to do this? What about continuing on?” In a very short amount of time he persuaded me that this was the bold choice to make and you listen to your creators. Then it just became a question of how do we handle that information.

DEADLINE: You mean how you would reveal the end?

NEVINS: Yes, do we do the traditional thing which would be as we’re launching Season 3 announce this is the final season of Penny Dreadful? That’s what the traditional playbook would say. I feel like every show kind of has its own rules and its own rhythms and to say that, given what I knew the ending of Penny Dreadful was going to be felt like a massive spoiler and it felt disrespectful to the experience that people were having with the show.

I knew it’s going to be very emotional and I imagined Sunday to be even somewhat traumatic because people have a very deep emotional connection to these characters, but it seemed like why should we spoil that? Why should we sort of lessen the blow? Because that’s what TV and certainly good storytelling is about — creating an emotional experience. So it’s going to end with a card that says the end and let people live in that experience and then we explain that on Monday morning.

LOGAN: I support fully what David’s saying but for me from a slightly different perspective which is really entirely to do with the fans. Because I’ve done two Bond films. I’ve done a lot of big films, but the fans of Penny Dreadful are very passionate and they feel an intimate connection with these characters. What I hear from them frequently, both at Comic-Con and just sort of on the street, is they love the theatricality of the show that we’re not afraid to make the bold gesture.

That’s what the ending of this series is, it is meant to be a strong, bold, theatrical ending because I think that’s what our fans like and to water that down with an announcement or having them know I think would be an act of bad faith.

[…]

DEADLINE: David, how do you think Penny Dreadful fans are going to react to not just the death of Vanessa Ives but the end of the show?

NEVINS: I think they’re going to go through the same stages of grief that I went through when I first heard it. You’re upset. You feel emotional. You have a sense of bereft. I love that show. But hopefully you come through it and you realize you know that was incredibly satisfying, even uplifting — 27 episodes, 27 hours was the right amount of time to tell this story.

While Nevins has a point about not spoiling the audience, when a person is reading a book and notices there are fewer pages left to be read than he has already read, he knows the story is coming to a close. Likewise, to watch a two-hour long film, audience members do not need to turn in their watches at the box office. Are you glad you didn’t know Penny Dreadful was ending, or does this move seem like a sucker punch?

Watch Penny Dreadful, the final moments, from Showtime. In it, the Penny Dreadful TV series cast and crew discuss the end of the series.

What do you think? Do you think the Penny Dreadful TV series reached a satisfying conclusion? Do you wish you had received advance notice that the third season finale was actually the Penny Dreadful TV series finale? Tell us.

Very dissatisfied the show ended so abruptly. The characters were just getting fully developed. Misleading to call a season finale….wait it’s really a series finale. I was angry about the lack of preparation. There was SO much more show to go….Terrible creative decision.Horrible. Untimely, anticlimactic, and deflating. I hesitate to follow the writers or producers….whoever made that ridiculous decision in the future. It’s just way too much to invest to be left so unceremoniously flat!

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

September 15, 2016 1:07 am

Reader

Xybernauts

@Cindy McLennan ( writer of article)

Put a spoiler warnings before talking about important ground shaking plot developments that give away important details about the plot, please!

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

August 13, 2016 9:29 am

Reader

Danijela

Disappointing message to the loyal viewers…We had seen all sorts of wrongdoings, but we haven’t seen happiness for Vanessa and Ethan…At least a film with fictional characters could have a happy ending…Why they fought when they gave up at the end…

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

July 27, 2016 9:52 am

Reader

Eugene

Too many new characters and loose ends. Unfitting ending for the leading ones, so untrue to their story and personalities. The show needs to be renewed . There’s a loyal fanbase that will watch.

Vote Up1Vote Down Reply

July 6, 2016 2:12 pm

Reader

Coob

I thought it was a fine ending. I was surprised as it was billed as a Season Finale. I like this show and looked forward to each of the seasons and would have continued to watch more. But, I’m not going to whine about it. C’mon people it’s a story and it’s over, move on! If it comes back in 5 or 10 years I would certainly be interested, but that’s another time and another story.

Vote Up-1Vote Down Reply

July 1, 2016 1:27 pm

Reader

Athena

Don’t think in five years I’ll come back to these characters. You don’t get to play that role as the creator…I am out!

Vote Up-2Vote Down Reply

June 28, 2016 2:18 am

Reader

Jae

Another showtime crash and burn. Reminds me of dexter so bs ending. I try not to watch showtime series because they either end when they should be taking off or end horribly. This is the worst example of that. At least eight we always have HBO. Damn even AMC with breaking bad has showtime crap beat.

Vote Up-1Vote Down Reply

June 27, 2016 11:34 pm

Reader

Slf

Logan is a dolt. Why bother introducing new characters such as Dr. Jekyl when he played such a peripheral character? The first year, Dracula is introduced and the magically pops up again to shore up the last season? If Vanessa was so integral to Logan’s psyche why was so much time spent on mind numbing scenes in the American southwest when it could have been wrapped up in a single episode. Showtime, fire Logan and ask for your moneyback. Sounds like he checked out after getting the Patty Smith gig.

Vote Up5Vote Down Reply

June 22, 2016 12:12 am

Reader

Djv

Very dissapointed. There are to many loose ends. I’m hoping the creators will change their minds and bring it back.

Vote Up2Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 10:36 pm

Reader

Eva

What a crock! ‘m not grieving, I’m pissed! What a crock of crap! Tying up loose ends with the players could have made a complete 4th season. I doubt seriously the creator ended it, but if he did then I don’t care to watch anything else he creates, as he evidently has lost his mind to end PD in such an ignorant fashion. Goodbye SHOWTIME!

Vote Up2Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 7:07 pm

Reader

Lagoon

This is a botched job, really a mess. Even inside the own Logan´s story does not fit, the surrender of a woman stalked by the same Devil, that always had been a warrior. which is the finale message of Penny Dreadful as Logan? “hey your life is a misery, accept it, and don´t fight for get this better, bc nobody will love you never (the Caliban´s finale scene was a ruin).- Hopefully would happen a spinn-off.

Vote Up2Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 7:36 am

Reader

Thomas

NO CLOSURE! AN ABRUPT END TO A MAGNIFICENT SHOW. I’m beyond disappointed to hear that Penny Dreadful has been cancelled. Despite Vanessa’s untimely death (although Dr. Frankenstein could bring her back to life), many of the remaining characters still have stories to tell: Ethan, Lily, Creature/Mr. Claire, Dr. Frankenstein, and even Dr. Jekyll/Lord Hyde. It is unfortunate that brilliant shows like Penny Dreadful don’t appeal to the masses. I’d pay good money to see another season of this show. Perhaps Showtime should offer a premier service called “Showtime Platinum” where subscribers could pay a higher monthly fee to watch shows… Read more »

Vote Up5Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 12:14 am

Reader

Laurel

I’m so angry!!!!! I get very tired of Networks cancelling the best shows on TV and Penny Dreadful was one of THE BEST!!!!!! I am considering cancelling my Shotime subscription. 🙁

I agree, Laurel. That said, the network didn’t cancel Penny Dreadful. The creator decided it was time to wrap up.

Vote Up1Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 12:51 am

Reader

Alisabeth

It’s still highly disappointing!!!!

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

June 21, 2016 2:46 am

Reader

christine

Im really upset that Penny Dreadful was cancelled! It is such an amazing series with a great cast.Plus so much more stories to tell.Not to mention the fact that as a twist Vanessa could have been resurrected. Sad to see it go.

Vote Up5Vote Down Reply

June 20, 2016 2:12 pm

Reader

Dreadfuls

I feel like the show runners did a real disservice to Eva’s character Vanessa. Since season 1 her origin and development has become a focal point to the series, not to mention what she actually is. This development was undone in the last three episodes of season 3.